Browsing Tag

Independent Hip Hop

Yoyo Sumz has released her addictively authentic pop-rap track, Red or Nah

Posted on 29 August 2022

Authenticity may be a rare commodity in the hip-hop scene in 2022. Yoyo Sumz still managed to bring it by the smorgasbord in her latest pop & trap-tinged single, Red or Nah, which has appeased critics as much as her international fanbase.

Between the strong melodies and equally as robust harmonic resonance from the soulfully unfuckwithable vocals, Red or Nah is a fierce urban earworm that demands repeat attention from the first hit. Any fans of XXX Tentacion, Lil Durk and Yung Bleu won’t want to let his artistically produced release slip them by.

Red or Nah is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Floridian rapper CHDDR kept us in ‘Check’ with his debut

Posted on 1 August 2022
https://soundcloud.com/theycallmecheddar/check

Floridian hip-hop artist, CHDDR, has dropped one of the hottest rap debuts of the year with his single, Check, produced by Hvstle. The mellow, colourful indie instrumentals flirt with cultures of far-flung lands; atop the woody organic flutes and the rhythmic grooves of the 808s, CHDDR takes the opportunity to establish himself as a unique voice in the genre, with the ability to verse beyond tropes and cliches.

Every line serves to testify to his playful persona that amplifies the sticky-sweet appeal of the short yet unforgettable debut, which has already racked up over 20k streams on SoundCloud alone. Undoubtedly, he is one to watch.

Check is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MOBBIN101 pays homage to Tupac in ‘How We Ride’

Posted on 9 July 2022

Tupac may not be here to verse us through the surrealism of 2022, but MOBBIN101 stepped up to the mark in his homage piece to the icon with his latest single, How We Ride, which brings Tupac energy around MOBBIN101 wit and originality.

From the chillingly cinematic production to the magnetism in the level yet strident bars, there’s no immunity to the intoxicating effects of How We Ride, which etches a gritty vignette of the mob life that reprieved us of one of the greatest voices in hip hop and continues to tear holes in societies. It’s as sobering as it is infectious. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more impressive hip hop luminary in any state.

How We Ride officially released on July 1st. Check it out via SoundCloud and Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: THISMINORITY welcomes us to the spiritual new age of hip hop with ‘MEDI’.

Posted on 5 July 2022

For his debut single, THISMINORITY brought hip hop into the realm of spiritual new age mindfulness to smash through the stereotypes and establish himself as a unique voice with an equally as distinctively cutting production style.

Self-awareness is a journey, but on the basis of MEDI, the New Orleans-born, Brooklyn-based rapper and lyricist is already leagues ahead of most with his recognition of the importance of the narratives we spin to ourselves.

His melodic stormer allows you to think just as fiercely as it compels you to feel as the atmospherically old school track runs through its cinematic progressions. While the 808s steadily rattle, the monochromatic vignette that THISMINORITY etched to portray the darkness he pulled himself from keeps you hooked into the classy yet juxtaposing gritty synthetics.

Here is what THISMINORITY had to say about his debut:

“Medi is a reflection on my newfound passion for mass connection and how entertainment, fame, etc come with it. Exploring the concept triggered the epiphany that the things that we need to feel good can destroy us in excess.

Satisfaction, confidence, and love can ultimately lead to greed, ego, and lust. How do I balance? I meditate…”

MEDI is now available to stream on Spotify & SoundCloud.

Follow THISMINORITY via Facebook & Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MARC.MADE is good for it in his subversively seductive rap track, CA$hAPP

Posted on 30 June 2022

After his discography racked up over 700k streams, the Detroit-born, Atlanta-raised indie rapper, MARC.MADE is here with his subversively seductive summer track CA$hAPP.

By running his funk-grooved prelude through plenty of warm tape delay, you instantly feel the heat in the expressively dynamic track that allows digital transactions to resonate as affectionate proclamations. If that isn’t a striking mark of ingenuity, I don’t know what is.

The surprises when it comes to MARC.MADE don’t end there either. The full-time scientist, entrepreneur and crypto investor has also co-starred on VH1’s Dating Naked S1-E5 & S1-Wedding Special & CBS’ Face the Truth S1-E12.

Although, the visceral chemistry that breeds between his charisma-dripped bars and the female vocals in CA$hAPP starts to make infinitely more sense with his profession in context.

CA$hAPP is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Roman. & Ella Shreiner brought the intensity out in each other in the HipHop/EDM Pop mash-up ‘Mortality’.

Posted on 16 June 2022

In the most momentous hip hop & EDM pop mash-up of the year Roman. and Ella Shreiner brought a brand-new intensity out in each other. ‘Mortality’ is just one of the tracks to feature on Roman.’s debut album, Own World (20 Pages); icons have ended up on the hip hop map for far less.

After an immediate introduction to the soul in Shreiner’s vocal timbre, the single picks up even more gravity when Roman.’s realism-soaked bars kick in. Instead of launching scathing attacks on the usual insidious aspects of our existence, the up-and-coming rapper kept it resonant by highlighting the flaws in the hoop-jumping music industry, in turn, he gave the promise that he will always keep it real.

Check out the alchemic collab for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lamar Creation soulfully hates the player and the game in his RnB pop hit, Feeling Me

Posted on 30 May 2022

Chicago born and raised artist, Lamar Creation, has dropped the ultimate 2022 RnB pop summer anthem with his latest hip hop influenced single, Feeling Me, which gives all the luxe grooves as Jay Z, the fiery passion of Frank Ocean and all of the contemporary funk of Daft Punk.

The sun-bleached electronic textures, which also find enough room to throw in nuances of Afrobeat, create the perfect platform for Lamar and collaborator, RichDaPhatt’s vocals as they seemingly drift through the entire emotional spectrum to lay it all down on the line on a relationship that is as much of a mental mindfuck as spending an hour watching the news.

The old adage may tell us to hate the game and not the player, but Feeling Me stands as a testament to the dissonance that playing games can cause in a way that may (hopefully) make people think twice about dealing with that kind of hand.

We scarcely needed his bio to tell us that Lamar is as much of a poet as he is a lyricist. It is all too perceptible through the jarring lines that keep on delivering the evocative hammering blows.

Feeling Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BHM NONO severed tribal ties in his latest hit, DESTINED 2 WIN

Posted on 3 May 2022

Hostility and hip hop have gone hand in hand since the Bronx inception, but here to prove that nothing is in trend forever is the trailblazing conscious rap artist, BHM NONO, with his latest single, DESTINED 2 WIN.

After an extended spoken-word prelude that puts you in the perfect place to feel the weight of the following bars, the instrumentals bring plenty of dramatic minor-key atmosphere into the mix. And that is all before BHM NONO’s fiery convicted bars prove that motivation doesn’t have to be synonymous with others’ destruction.

BHM NONO has exactly what it takes to become one of the most essential artists of his generation. We can’t wait to watch him get there.

The official music video premiered on April 22nd; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anthony Levone speaks for the pacifists in his latest lyrically driven hip hop track, Peacekeepers

Posted on 3 May 2022

Anthony Levone’s latest single, Peacekeepers, featuring Fooly23, is for everyone that has been cognitively wrapped up in the senseless brutality of our contemporary existence a little too much lately. And when I say everyone, that is especially in reference to genre preference. The articulate nature of Levone’s lyricism means that the smooth sonic old school and sun-bleached hip hop instrumentals fall by the wayside as his bars pull parables from religious icons to prove that we’ve scarcely moved on in terms of civility.

The West Palm Beach-hailing artist has been releasing music since 2019, in that time, he’s developed a staunch fan base with his J.Cole, Nas & Common reminiscences. He’s also been in heavy rotation on international radio stations and landed a plethora of coveted playlist placements. Yet, judging by the socially-minded tenacity in Peacekeepers, it is safe to say that none of his philosophical work will ever be over-amplified.

The lyric video for Peacekeepers premiered on April 22nd; it is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Break the habit with G.Pari$’s melodic hip hop track, Patterns

Posted on 21 April 2022

With chill melodic beats, mic-drop lyrical lines that make the metaphors feel endless, and a sense of expressive compassion, the G.Pari$ sonic experience leaves little to be desired.

His latest single, Patterns finds an immersive way to prove that we are all just creatures of frantic habit, and we will all end up in neurotic ruins if we don’t take a step back to intersect our emotions and actions with mindfulness.

That mediative sense of self-awareness effortlessly reads through the ambient old-school-meets-new-wave grooves that effortlessly synergise with G.Pari$’s matter of fact but evocatively charged bars.

G.Pari$ is exactly the kind of artist you need on your radar if you’re always looking for artists to spill as much wisdom as they do catharsis.

Patterns is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast